A variety of article carriers have heretofore been provided for mounting on vehicles, particularly at the front or rear of the vehicle to enable a variety of articles such as bicycles, motorcycles, skis and the like increasing the carrying capacity of the vehicle.
In general, there are a number of article carriers that have a number of mounting arms that bolt to a vehicle frame such as that disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,201.
Exemplary of prior art, bicycle carriers, which are removably interconnected with bumpers of automobiles, trucks, are those devices illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,341 issued to Copelind and U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,622 issued to McLain. These devices relate generally to carrier assemblies designed to affix to a standard trailer hitch assembly which would attach to the vehicle's existing frame structure.
The article carrier of the present invention overcomes the drawbacks of prior art carrier devices by providing an apparatus which is highly stable and infinitely adjustable to all tire sizes while at the same time being rugged yet lightweight and can easily be interconnected with any exterior mounted vehicle spare tire whether it be a door mounted unit or a spare wheel mounted on a swing open gate type apparatus. The present invention is also quite versatile in carrying various articles such as bicycles, wheelchairs, and other velocipedes to be securely mounted thereon for safe transport. Additionally, the invention is asymmetrical in design with movable carrier arms to allow for its universal application to either right or left mounted exterior spare tires. The apparatus also embodies novel securement and locking means to prevent unauthorized removal of the article being carried from the article carrier as well as preventing unauthorized removal of the article carrier itself from the exterior mount vehicle spare tire carrier.